Connecting ASIAIR Pro to Celestron Evolution Mount

mj972

Hello,
I've been trying to connect my ASIAIR Pro to my Celestron Evolution mount (regular, no StarSense), and have been unable to do it.

First of all, I was uncertain which Celestron Mount to choose, since there is no Celestron Evolution option. I tried both Nexstar SE and Nexstar Advanced, both didn't succeed. I followed the instructions - did a 1 star alignment using the handset, and then I connected the mini-USB cable to the ASIAIR. It doesn't recognize any connection. I also tried it backwards - turning the mount on, connecting the USB cable, and then performing the alignment process, but it too didn't work.

I then tried to connect to the mount via WiFi - set the ASIAir to the wifi generated by the mount, set IP to 1.2.3.4, and Port to 2000. Tried both TCP and UDP, but each time no connection.

Am I doing something wrong? Please advise.

Are there any plans of incorporating the new Celestron AUX INDI driver in an upcoming version?

Thanks,

Jon

Tech@ZWO

mj972
Hello jon
Please submit the log from App feedback after you attempt to connect the mount to ASIAIR

Horsehead

mj972 Did you ever get your mount to connect? I tried reading through all of the posts and never saw where you did. I had connection problems with my Skywatcher until I finally saw where someone said to use the USB connection from your mount to the ASIAIR, forget about the hand controller. Select EQMOD and 11520 baud rate. Forget about all that 2,3 star alignment mess. Immediately my mount was cooperating with the ASIAIR, obeying all commands. My hand controller is staying on my shelf. Let me know if this works for you.

Tech@ZWO

The premise is to make sure star alignmemt(1 or 2 or 3) is successful. Then you can choose the option with "Nexstar".

mj972

Thanks, do I need to keep the USB cable disconnected until alignment is successful?

mj972

Hi, just tried it - did EQ align, then connected the (turned on) Asiair pro, and it didn’t work. Any suggestions?

charles18

I have been using the Asiair with the Celestron Evolution Mount no problem, in both eq and alt-az config. I usually proceed with the star alignment (for wedge, eq North > complete 1 star alignment), then connect the USB mini B to the hand controller and Asiair. I believe I use Nexstar SE option, but can check next time. I wouldn't use the wifi, it is quite unstable and caused me issues on the ASCOM PC previously. Make sure you use baud rate of 9600. If this doesn't work, perhaps:

Check that the usb mini cable is working properly (say by connecting Evolution to computer via ASCOM)
Update the firmware of the Evolution mount

mj972

charles18 thanks Charles, I’ll give it another try. Is the ASIPro turned on when you connect it to the scope, or do you first connect the cables and then turn it in?

jon

mj972

OK,

Did an EQ align, and then connected the handset to the mini usb cable and turned on the ASIPro. No luck.
it still says that no serial connection has been found (I’m attaching some screen shots, the first before I try to turn on the switch, the second after clicking the switch, and the third after clicking it again).

The cable is working, since I just connected the mount to my computer and controlled it using KStars. Both mount and HC firmwares are up to date (Evolution Mount v7.17.98, NexStar+ HC app version 5.31.9200, boot version 3.1.6100)

What am I missing?

charles18

Seems like I'm slightly behind you on the Firmware version:
HC: 5.29.6225
MC: 7.15.8262
But I don't think it should have too much of an impact.

I re-tested today on lastest ASI firmware, still works fine:

Plug USB cable to ASIair (I use the USB2 port)
Boot ASIair (although you should be able to plug the USB after Boot)
Do eq North > 1 star alignment until Hand controller prints alignment completed
Connect USB mini B to hand controller
Connect via 'Celestron NexStar GPS/SLT/SE' at Baud 9600

mj972

charles18 sadly no go…
Before switching the activation switch for the mount in the ASI app, what do you see next to “Serial”? Is it Not found as I have, or something else?

w7ay

mj972 Before switching the activation switch for the mount in the ASI app, what do you see next to “Serial”? Is it Not found as I have, or something else?

With my RainbowAstro mount, ASIAIR shows "Serial > Not Found" if I do not have it plugged into a USB hub that is connected to the ASIAIR.

After reconnecting the USB cable back and rebooting ASIAIR but first selecting On-Camera ST4 in the entry window, the Telescope Setup window starts initially at On-Camera ST-4, with no green Serial box.

When I next scroll the Telescope menu to the RainbowAstro mount, ASIAIR then shows "Serial > Connected" even before I select the mount.

Remember that NexStar mounts need to be star aligned before the mount opens its own serial port for communications. If you are using a NexStar mount, I assume you have already done the star alignment .

After star aligning the mount with the USB cable disconnected, (1) power off ASIAIR, (2) connect the USB cable to ASIAIR, and (3) repower to reboot ASIAIR hardware from scratch. Then (4) try to select the mount in the ASIAIR start up window.

If you run macOS, you can see if the mount is actually communicative (after star alignment) by connecting the mount to a Mac's USB port. Then go to the Apple menu and select About This Mac. Choose System Report in the window that pops up. The System Information window should show up. On the left panel of the window, under the Hardware section, you should see a "USB" item. If you select that, you should see all USB devices that are connected to the Mac on the right side of the window. Drill down on the USB tree to see if you can find the mount. If it does not appear on the Mac, ASIAIR will not find the mount either -- i.e., see if you can first debug the mount's USB port.

Only after that, go to the Telescope Setup window. Otherwise, ASIAIR may behave as if no USB/serial port has been connected to it.

Sadly, ZWO avoids answering postings on this Forum (or post a complete non-sequitur) when they do not have a clue what is wrong, instead of honestly posting that they don't have a solution.

Chen

charles18

That's unfortunate, this is a weird issue. I believe it is not found until you hit the activation switch. I would follow up with the ZWO team, particularly considering things are working fine with Kstars.

mj972

So - I checked a few usb cables and all fail. I'm beginning to think I have a dud AAP. Problem is, ZWO isn't really responding to my support emails. ☹️
I"m now trying to find someone in my vicinity with an AAP to see whether it is indeed a problem with my AAP unit.

StarBrowser

I am having the same problem with the Celestron 6E which has the Nexstar+ HC as well. Fully update firmware on HC, MC and Aire (HC has same rev as mj972 ) - 5.31.9200. Known good cable. I have tried 1 star and 3 star alignments. I am operating in alt-az mode not EQ. Any response yet from ZWO support?

mj972

Hey StarBrowser, thanks for the info! Your experience makes me think this might be a software issue that ZWO needs to address. @tech@zwo - please advise…

mj972

w7ay Thanks Chen, regarding your checklist - why is the ASIAIR turned on in the first place at this stage? I am doing the alignment process with the AAP disconnected from the HC. I then put the USB cable in, turn the AAP's power on, wait for wifi light to turn on, connect to the network using my iPhone/iPad, and then select the mount. Going to the telescope menu still doesn't work, as trying to switch the on gives me the same error messages.

aggrevating.

w7ay

mj972 Going to the telescope menu still doesn't work, as trying to switch the on gives me the same error messages.

Yeah, do a sanity check first to see if the mount can be seen by other computers. This will reduce the problem area by half. Right now, we don't know for sure who is not communicating. Could be the mount, could be ASIAIR, or it could even be both.

Chen

jayair

I'm having the exact same issue with my new Celestron AVX mount and new AAP. I have followed every recommended procedure and end up with the same error. All firmware is up-to-date as well. Not sure what to do and it seems support is nearly non-existent.

jayair

w7ay I connected to my computer and I can see the mount connection.

mj972

w7ay I do know - I've been able to connect to it using a mini USB cable and KStars from my mac. So - the INDI driver is working fine.

w7ay

jayair I connected to my computer and I can see the mount connection.

OK, it is a matter of making the ASIAIR see the mount.

In my case, when I restart the ASIAIR app with nothing connected to the ASIAIR USB ports, and selecting RainbowAstro mount in the Telescope Setup window, it shows Serial port as "Not found." As expected.

If I restart (quit app on iPad and relaunch ASIAIR) the ASIAIR app with even an empty USB hub connected to one of ASIAIR's USB ports, Telescope Setup will already show Serial: No Connected once I select the RainbowAstro mount in the Telescope Setup window, without trying to connect yet. I.e., ASIAIR sees some USB port connected to it; it does not know yet that it is not a mount.

ASIAIR will fail to connect to a "RainbowAstro mount" of course, when my mount is not plugged into the hub.

So, the next thing for you to try is to find an unused unpowered USB Hub around the house, and plug that into the ASIAIR.

Not all powered hubs are compatible with the Raspberry Pi (most cheap hubs will back-power the USB port in the Raspberry Pi), so it is best to try an unpowered hub first.

The short experiment that I did above was done with an unpowered hub (a powered hub with no power conected to it).

Does ASIAIR now report Serial:Not Connected instead of Serial:Not Found?

Remember that each time you connect or disconnect a hub or device, to at least relaunch the ASIAIR app, before checking the Telescope Setup to see if any state has changed.

If ASIAIR now says Serial: Not Connected (instead of Not Found), plug your mount into the hub, and restart the ASIAIR app.

See if it continues to say Not Connected with the mount connected to the hub. If it does, try to connect to the mount (that slide switch in Telescope Setup at the far right of the mount drop-down menu).

If it now connects to the mount, the Raspberry Pi probably has a problem with the USB hardware on the mount (I have seen incompatibility with the SiliconLabs chipset), and you may have to keep using a USB hub between the ASIAIR and the mount (host port of the hub is the ASIAIR :-).

Now, if ASAIR does not even say "Serial: Not connected" after you connect a USB Hub to the ASIAIR (with no other USB devices connected to the ASIAIR), there is something really wrong with the Raspberry Pi port if it fails with a couple of USB hubs.

Chen